Also known as: false testimonies · perjured testimony
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
Testimony given under oath or affirmation that the witness knows to be untrue. The concept requires knowing falsity and applies when a witness or lawyer participates in presenting such statements in a proceeding.
Francesca Fowler tells her defense lawyer she wants to present an alibi witness who will falsely claim Fowler was out of state during the charged robbery. The lawyer refuses to call the witness and warns Fowler that presenting the testimony would require disclosure to the court. The lawyer's refusal prevents any violation of ethical duties and preserves the integrity of the trial record.
Felix Franco testifies at trial that he inspected safety equipment the week before an accident. Later evidence shows the inspections were four months overdue. The contradiction establishes that Franco gave false testimony on a material fact, allowing impeachment and affecting the credibility determination.
In the 1980s, respondent engaged in multiple real estate transactions financed by loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, an agency within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Respondent would purchase rental housing, renovate it, obtain an inflated appraisal, and sell it to a straw buyer for whom respondent would arrange an FHA-insured mortgage loan. Then, as prearranged, respondent would repurchase the property at a small profit to the straw buyer and assume the mortgage loan. Twenty-nine of these ventures went into default. Respondent was charged by federal indictment with multiple counts of making false statements on federal loan documents in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1001. Two of these counts charged that respondent had made false statements on HUD/FHA form 92800-5 by knowingly inflating the appraised value of the mortgaged property. The other false-statement counts charged that respondent had made misrepresentations on HUD/FHA form HUD-1, the settlement form used in closing the sales of the properties. Line 303 of this form requires disclosure of the closing costs to be paid or received by the borrower/buyer and the seller. The forms executed by respondent showed that the buyer was to pay some of the closing costs, whereas in fact he, the seller, had arranged to pay all of them. To prove the materiality of these false statements, the Government offered the testimony of several persons charged with administering FHA/HUD programs, who explained why the requested information was important. At the close of the evidence, the United States District Court for the District of Montana instructed the jury. The court stated that the issue of materiality was not submitted to the jury for its decision but was instead a matter for the court. The court further instructed that the statements charged in the indictment were material statements. The jury convicted respondent of the §1001 charges. A panel of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed these convictions. On rehearing en banc, the Court of Appeals stood by its precedent. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.
View caseYes. A lawyer violates professional conduct rules by counseling or assisting a witness to testify falsely. The rule applies during deposition preparation and trial advocacy. Conduct that substitutes minimizing language contradicting the witness's own prior documentation supports a finding of discipline.
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No. A subordinate lawyer has an independent duty to comply with the rules and cannot escape responsibility by claiming a supervisor directed the conduct. Knowing false statements under oath remain sanctionable even when a partner instructs the lawyer to rely on a backdated file copy.
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Yes. A person who has given false testimony for the purpose of obtaining benefits under the Act cannot be found to be a person of good moral character. The bar applies even to statements that are immaterial to the ultimate decision.
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Yes. A lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of fact to a tribunal or fail to correct a false statement of material fact previously made. The duty continues until the proceeding concludes and requires disclosure of subsequently discovered inaccuracies.
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